Knot-tying device for fringes



Jan. 20, 1970 J. M. FEIGHERY KNOT-TYING DEVICE FOR FRINGES Filed Oct. 31. 1968 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,490,801 KN ()T-TYING DEVICE FOR FRINGES James M. Feighery, Dalton, Ga., assignor to J. M. Feighery Company, Dalton, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Filed Oct. 31, 1968, Ser. No. 772,313 Int. Cl. B65h 69/04 U.S. Cl. 2892 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A block formed of separable sections is provided with passageway means therein for the movement therethrough of a gathering of fringe yarns. Vacuum means moves the yarn strands through the blocks to complete the formation of the knot.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is the common practice in the making of certain types of draperies and rugs to employ fringe thereon, which comes from a fringing machine with the yarn extending freely from the tape by which it is carried. Successive numbers of strands of the yarn are then gathered and tied into knots drawn up fairly closely to the tape which is attached to the rug or draperies. These operations are usually performed by hand and are quite time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present device is a part of a mechanism by which various operations are performed and the machine is automated. The present device, however, is concerned solely with the formation of knots in the fringes to be attached to rugs and draperies.

The device comprises a pair of complementary blocks having passages formed therein, including an entrance passageway for the free ends of the fringe yarns and a spiral passageway passing around the axis of a vacuum tube in the center of the blocks. After passing through the spiral passageways, the yarn passes downwardly around a substantially semi-circular passageway, half of which is formed in each block, and then enters a lateral opening in the vacuum tube. It is the creation of vacuum within this tube that provides the force neces sary for the feeding of the yarn upwardly through the various passageways and then into the vaccum tube to complete the formation of the knot.

After the knot formation has been completed, the vacuum is shut off, the two blocks are separated from each other and the vacuum tube is withdrawn axially from its position. This frees the previously knotted strands with the knot loosely formed therein. This knot in the larger machine is tightened automatically, but for the purpose of the present invention it may be considered that an operator holds the free end of the yarn strands and slides the knot loop downwardly toward the tape to tighten it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the device, one of the complementary blocks being broken away to show the interior construction and the path of travel of the yarn in forming the knot;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the two complementary block members, showing the portions of the grooves formed in each and with the vacuum tube removed vertically, the fringe with the loose knot formed therein being shown as it will appear when removed from the device;

3,499,801 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates the body of the device as a whole comprising two complementary block sections 12 and 14 arranged in contacting face-to-face relation when the device is in operation. The blocks are provided with an axial opening 16 therethrough for the reception of the lower end of a vacuum tube 1-8 (FIGURE 2), the upper end 20 of which is adapted to be connected to a source of vacuum which may be disconnected therefrom in any suitable manner, such disconnecting means not being shown. The opening 16, when the block sections 12 and 14 are assembled, obviously is cylindrical in cross section to receive the vacuum tube 18. The vacuum tube is provided above the blocks with a flange 22 carrying a pin 24 adapted to engage in an opening 26 formed in the upper face of the block element 12 as shown at the left side of FIGURE 2. This pin positions the vacuum tube circumferentially as will become apparent. Similarly, the block 14 is provided with pins 28 (FIGURE 2) engageable in openings 30 in the inner face of the block 12 to position the blocks relative to each other.

Each of the blocks is provided with a groove 32 (FIGURE 2) cooperating when the blocks are assembled to form a passageway 34 (FIGURE 4) into the bottom of which the free end of the yarn is introduced. From the top of thepassage 34, the yarn enters a spiral groove section 36 formed in the block element 12 and as the yarn moves upwardly spirally around such groove it enters a similar groove 38 in the inner face of the block 14, shown at the right-hand side of FIGURE 2. From the upper end of the groove 38, the yarn enters a groove 40, also spiralled, formed in the face of the block 12. It will be apparent that the yarn passing through the grooves 36, 38 and 40 will move around the axis of the vacuum tube 18. From the top or right-hand end of the groove 40 as viewed in FIGURE 2 (left-side) the yarn enters a passage formed by complementary grooves 42 in each of the inner faces of the blocks. The yarn then passes downwardly through these grooves, as shown in FIGURE 1, to enter an opening 44 in the lower end of the vacuum pipe, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4. The lower end of the vacuum pipe is open, and is closed against the admission of air by a plug 46 which may be carried by a flange 48 secured against the bottom of the block element 12 in any suitable manner, and provided with a notch 50 (FIGURE 1) through which the end of the yarn enters into the passageway 34.

Referring to the fringe shown at the bottom of FIG URE 2, it will be noted that strands of yarn 46 have their free ends extending normally upwardly to be received in the passageway 34, and as the yarn passes around the groove 36, a curved portion 49 is formed in the yarn, which continues as at 51 to form a complete loop as the yarn passes upwardly around the groove 40, the yarn being curved around this groove as at 52. Through the passage formed by the grooves 42, the yarn passes downwardly as at 54 and thence laterally-inwardly as at 56 into the opening 44 to be pulled upwardly as at 58 through the vacuum tube 18. These various spiral passages loop the yarn around the axis of the vacuum tube and thus around the end 58 of the yarn to complete the loose tying of the knot.

As previously stated, the present apparatus is a unit of a larger machine in which various operations are carried out automatically. For example, in the completed machine, the tube block members 12 and 14 will be swung open and the vacuum tube 18 raised by suitable automatic means, and the knot will be tightened by automatic means. For the purpose of the present invention, it may be assumed that an operator grasps the free end 58 of the strands of yarn with one hand and pushes downwardly with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand to form a finished knot as indicated by the numeral 60 in FIGURE 5. The present device saves a great amount of time in the formation of these knots, whereas all operations previously were performed by hand. Moreover, the apparatus very simply and quickly ties uniform knots 60 in the finished fringe to be attached to draperies or rugs.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and the various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be made as do not depart from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A knot-tying device comprising a pair of blocks having fiat surfaces in face-to-face relation, and a vacuum tube extending down through said blocks between said adjacent faces, said blocks being provided with a passage having an inlet end, and an outlet end communicating with said vacuum tube, portions of said passage between said ends thereof extending around the axis of said tube whereby, when said blocks are separated and said tube removed, portions of said yarn will extend around the end of the yarn which has projected through said tube to form with such end of the yarn a knot which may be tightened.

2. A knot-tying device according to claim 1 wherein said vacuum tube forms the inner wall of the spiral portions of said passage.

3. A knot-tying device according to claim 1 wherein said passage between the ends thereof extends spirally back and forth between said bodies to form at least one loop through which the free end of the yarn will extend to form a knot when said bodies are separated and said tube removed.

4. A knot-tying device according to claim 3 wherein the contacting faces of said bodies are provided with positioning pins to properly position said bodies to effect 4 a continuity of the groove portions in which said loop is formed.

5. A knot-tying device according to claim 4 wherein the entering end of said passage is straight and parallel to said vacuum tube, such entering passage end being formed of complementary grooves in the adjacent faces of said body members.

6. A knot-tying device according to claim 1 wherein the contacting faces of said blocks are provided with complementary grooves extending from top to bottom thereof and into the upper end of which said vacuum tube extends, the lower ends of said complemen- Cary grooves being plugged, said vacuum tube being provided in one side and adjacent the bottom thereof with a lateral opening with which said outlet end of said passage communicates to feed the yarn thereinto.

7. A knot-tying device according to claim 6 wherein the upper end of said vacuum tube is provided with means including a positioning pin engageable with the top of one of said bodies to position said tube for the proper communication of said lateral opening with said outlet end of said passage.

8. A knot-tying device according to claim 6 wherein said opening in the lower end of said vacuum tube is in the form of a notch extending to the lower extremity of said tube for the easy withdrawal of the latter when said bodies are separated.

9. A knot-tying device according to claim 6 wherein the portion of said passage adjacent said outlet end has an upper end communicating with the upper end of said spiral portion of said passage and the lower end of which communicates with said opening in said vacuum tube, said outlet end portion of said passage being smooth and curved longitudinally away from the axis of said vacuum tube and then inwardly into communication with said opening in said vacuum tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,481,754 1/1924 Stalson 289-17 2,913,270 11/1959 Sachsenroder et al. 2892 2,913,271 11/1959 Sachsenroder et al. 2892 3,336,063 8/1967 Remmers 289-2 LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner 

